Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

MacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
Overview
ReleasedMarch 2026February 2011
Display
Screen size14.2″17″
Resolution3024 × 1964 (better)1920 × 1200
PanelMini-LED–
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness1,000 nits–
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR display17-inch LED-backlit glossy or optional antiglare display at 1920 × 1200. Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are unpublished in the maker sources read.
Pixel density254 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
Screen finishStandard, or nano-texture as an option–
Display features1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen XDR brightness; ProMotion up to 120 Hz, with fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone–
Performance
ProcessorApple M5 Pro or Apple M5 MaxIntel Core i7 2.2 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011) or Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011)
CPU cores15 or 184
Graphics16-core GPU, 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPUAMD Radeon HD 6750M (1 GB GDDR5) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
Memory24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)4 GB or 8 GB
Storage1 TB to 8 TB (better)128 GB to 750 GB
CPU15-core CPU with 5 super cores and 10 performance cores (entry M5 Pro), or 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance coresQuad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with 6 MB shared L3 cache or optional 2.3 GHz with 8 MB. Generic maker-clock records avoid an unverified Intel SKU assumption. TechRadar identifies Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz for the tested 2.2 GHz model; unpublished optional-processor peak clocks are omitted.
GPU16-core or 20-core (M5 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M5 Max) GPU with Neural Accelerators and hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode, with two video encode and two ProRes engines on M5 MaxAMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1 GB GDDR5 plus Intel HD Graphics 3000 using at least 384 MB shared DDR3 memory; automatic graphics switching.
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memory4 GB or 8 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots.
Memory bandwidth307 GB/s (M5 Pro), 460 GB/s (M5 Max with 32-core GPU) or 614 GB/s (M5 Max with 40-core GPU)–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M5 Pro) or 8 TB (M5 Max); Apple quotes up to 14.5 GB/s read and write (tested with a 16-inch M5 Max with 8 TB)750 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 500 GB 7200-rpm hard drive or 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB SSD with either processor. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 22 hoursUp to 7 hours
Battery capacity72.4 Wh95 Wh (better)
Weight1.6 kg (better)2.99 kg
Thickness15.5 mm (better)25 mm
Width × depth312.6 × 221.2 mm393 × 267 mm
Battery life detailM5 Pro up to 22 hours video streaming and 14 hours wireless web; M5 Max up to 20 hours video streaming and 13 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer batteryBuilt-in lithium-polymer battery; up to seven hours in Apple wireless-web testing. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
ChargerSold separately in the UK (70 W or 96 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 70 W over USB PD85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith a 96 W or higher USB PD power source–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overallAluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
ColoursSpace Black, SilverSilver
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-FiWi-Fi 7AirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth62.1 + EDR
Webcam12MP Center StageFaceTime HD camera (720p, Macworld)
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detail3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone supportOne Thunderbolt port up to 10 Gbps, three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and optical digital audio output/headphone output. No SD card slot.
External displaysM5 Pro up to three at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or one at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz plus one at 5K 120 Hz or 4K 200 Hz; M5 Max up to four at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or two at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; all alongside the built-in displaySupports an external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen. Thunderbolt provides native Mini DisplayPort output; optional DVI, VGA or dual-link DVI adapters and third-party HDMI adapters provide other connections.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keysBacklit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures.
SpeakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in stereo speakers with subwoofers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modesOmnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille; supports an iPhone headset microphone.
BiometricsTouch ID–
In the box14-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separatelyMacBook Pro, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, display cleaning cloth, software DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’11 and FaceTime; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately.

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